William louden



(No Model.)

w. LOUDEN.

HAY ELEVATOR.

Patented Oct. 16,1894.

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U ITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM LOUDEN, OF FAIRFIELD, IOWA, ASSIGNOR TO THE LOUDEN MACHINERY COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

HAY-ELEVATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 527,530, dated October 16, 1894. Application filed April 6, 1891. Serial No. 387,891. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern: I I Be it known that I, WILLIAM LOUDEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Fairfield, in the county of Jefferson and State of Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hay-Elevators, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to hay elevators wherein elevating ropes, (or the two ends of the samerope,) are connected to the carrier so as to lead in opposite directions along the track or way upon which the carrier runs,

each rope being first passed over a sheavein the carrier and then fastened to the carrier so as to form a loop, and pulley blocks being hung in said loops so that by operating the ropes in unison, the pulley blocks and the I load that may be attached thereto will be eleof the carrier, pulley blocks and ropes, so

that each rope will be passed through both pulley blocks, thussecuring the full binding power of both ropes upon the pulley blocks and the load being elevated thereby, and preventing the upsetting of the load by one of the pulley blocks being drawn up ahead of the other. I

Also it consists ment so that each rope may be passed over its respective sheave and fastened to the carrier to form its loop without interfering or cominginto contact with the other rope and in combining with said carrier and ropes two pulley blocks having two sheaves each set in opposite sides of the blocks, one of the loops being in line with the sheaves in one side ofthe pulley blocks, and the other loop being in line with the sheaves in the other side of the pulley blocks.

Further it consists in the combination with the carrier and pulley blocks, of a continuous rope having its ends connected to the carrier, and the pulley blocks hung in the i loops, substantially as described, guiding pulleys and a centrally anchored pulley or drum to hold the load suspended and to eifect the shifting of the carrier on the track by means of the sheaves located in i ,the carrier in different planesor out of alignof the circuitous movement of the rope over the pulleys. I

Further it consists in the combination with the foregoing, of a counterpoise weight so arranged as to draw the carrier from either end of the track to a central point thereon,also it further consistsin an adjustable take up having an eye on each end for the admission of a loop of the rope and horns adjacentt'o said eyes for the loops to catch over so as to regulate the rope circuit used.

My invention still further consists in certain novel features of construction and combination of parts as will be hereinafter described and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a view in perspective of my improved elevator and carrier mechanism. Fig. 2 is a section on line 0c@ of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 1s a horizontal section through the carrier on line 33-2 of Fig.1 and Fig. 4 is a detached view of the adjustable take up. I

A represents an elevated track or rail suitably suspended in any approved manner in the barn or other building where the apparatus is to be used.

. f B is a carrier. comprlslnga frame and provided with wheels which travel upon the track or rail. The carrier is provided also with sheaves B and 13 located preferably at opposite ends of the carrier and placed out of alignment with each other or indifferent vertical planes as shown in Fig. 3. I p

E. and E indicate a pair of elevator blocks,

each of which is fitted with two or more as wouldbe the caseif the sheaves inthe cardition to the; increased compressing power thus secured, it is also necessary that both ends of the rope be connected to both endsof '5 functions of such coupling plate in the least the sling or load holding device, for if not thus connected and one end of the sling should be more heavily loaded than the other, or one end should get' caught on a beam or drag heavily against it, the light or free end of the sling would be drawn up ahead of the other and perhaps spill outthe load, the carrier moving on the track toward the heavy end to equalize the tension on the ends of the rope. My disposition of both ends of the rope through'both elevating blocks effectually prevents this and insures the evenelevation of the sling under all circumstances.

B represents the hoistingrope. This rope may be of a single piece connected at its ends to the carrier or elevator blocks or it may be composed of any number of ropes tied or otherwise fastened together so that a continuous rope is formed as shown in Fig. 1. In the construction shownin thisfigurethe two ends of the rope are secured in eyes F and F re- I spectively at points on the carrier as nearly opposite each other as possible, that is to say on opposite sides and atopposite ends of the carrier. From these points the parts of the rope pass downward, thence in opposite directions beneath the sheaves in each block on the side corresponding with their respective fastening points, thence upward over the opposed carrier sheave, outward over guiding pulleys D and D located at the opposite ends of the track or rail, and from. these guiding pulleys around similar pulleys D andD after which the draft point is determined by the position of a hook H'or similar device,if it is considered best to employ such device.

0 represents a take up. This may be differently constructed but it consists in the main of a plate of metal having eyes at or near its opposite ends and hooks or horns c and c outside of and adjacent to the eyes. Heretofore a device somewhat resembling my own has been employed as a coupling, pure and simple, for fastening the ends of a rope or ropes together but not intended to be adjusted to different positions on the rope to lengthen or shorten the circuit formed by the course taken by the rope, and to still further emphasize the differenceqbetween the coup ling plate referred to and my take-up, I'would add in this connection, that in so far as means is required to couple the parts of the rope together, for that matter my take up could be dispensed with for it does not couple the parts of the rope together in the strict sense of theword for they need no such coupling because when ene rope is used as in Fig. l,

there are no ends to couple together and when twoor more pieces are used as might be the case, they may be simply tied or spliced together. Again to show that the function of'my take up 0 is not the same as that of the coupling plate referred to I. may add that it could be used with the said coupling plate and would. not conflict with: the

and on the. other hand would still perform its own functions. Hence the only feature in common between the two is that they throw the parts of the'rope apart.

In the application of my take up, the two parts of the rope are simply looped or doubled and inserted in the eyes in the opposite 'ends of thev take up and then these doubled portions are looped over the hooks or horns. In this way the takeup is held in place on the rope from which place it will not move unless readjusted by hand, and it can beconnected to and disconnected from any part of thecontinuous rope without uncoupling the rope and slipping it on at the ends.

The other feature requiring attention is the load sustaining pulley P. This is simply mounted on a frame J which frame is conveniently anchored by means of stakes or similar devices K and N driven through the frame into the ground.

In operation, the draft animal is attached to the hook H when this device is employed. The animal is driven toward the jack J and the load elevates until the take up 0 slips over and engages pulley P when the load will be held suspended bythe contact of the take up against the pulley. Now by turning around and driving in the direction of arrow 1, the carrier with its elevated load will be drawn. along the track toward end A. By

turning around and drivingin the direction of arrow 2, the elevated load will of course be moved toward the opposite endv A of the track.

To regulate the height the load'is to be car- 1 ried, the take up 0 is simply adj usted' on the rope toward or away from the hook H to lengthen or shorten the circuit of the rope. By this means as the mow increases in height .the height of the load is easily adjusted to correspond without requiring other change. To hold the carrier at any desired point on the track while the load. is being elevated, all

that is necessary is to slip the take-up O and.

:hook H toward one end or the other of the .rope R. For instance to cause the load towbe' elevated at the point A on the. track, the take up and hook are slipped sufficiently along the ropetoward end B to=shorten that end and lengthen the other, so as to hold the carrier stationary at that point while the load: is being elevated. The rope being continuous and the take up being adapted to connect to it at any point within its operating circuit, it is easy to make this adjustment no matter of how many pieces the continuous rope is composed or how these pieces are connectedtogether.

When the rope is engaged with the load sustaining pulley P, as already described,.the load may be carried to the end A of thetrack by turning the horse around the jack in the direction of arrow 2 and driving him toward guiding pulley D. To elevate the load at the opposite end of the track, and carry it inthe opposite direction the take up 0 and hookH are simply slipped (or adjusted) toward the opposite end of the rope, as will bereadily understood or they may be so adjusted as to elevate the load at any intermediate point on L the track.

I In some cases a counterpoise may be employed to automatically return the carrier to a certain point say the middle of the track,

when the tensionwhich has displaced it from this point is removed. This consists of a rope attached to the carrier preferably at I and passed over a pulley G stationed over the point where it is desired to return the car- 1 rier, over other pulleys if necessary and provided with a weight W.

I am aware that a plate has been used for 1 coupling the ends of elevator ropes together 1 and I makeno claim to such a device,but

Having fully described my invention, what I I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a hay elevator, the combination with a track, and a carriermounted to travel therea on, of a hoisting rope constructed to form a continuous circuit from and between its two points of attachment with the carrier, and. a

take up connected with the rope at two points whereby a loop is formed in the rope circuit,

said take-up removable from the rope and l shiftable thereon without changing the length of the entire rope circuit, substantially as set forth.

2. Inahayelevator,the combination witha carrier, and a continuous hoisting rope atduce loops which are passed through the eyes and hooked over the horns, substantially as a set forth.

3. An adjustable take upfor a hoisting rope comprising a plate having two eyes therein adapted to admit therethrough a fold of the rope, and a horn in proximity to each of said eyes, said horn being adapted to catch and hold the fold of the rope, substantially as set I forth.

4. In ahay elevator, the combination with a track, a carrier, and an elevating rope leadin g in opposite directions along the track over which the carrier is drawn, each end of the rope being first passed over a sheave in the carrier and then fastened to the carrier so as to form two loops, alongside of each other, a hoisting device having parallel sheaves hung in said loops so that by operating the parts of the rope in unison, the hoisting device will be raised or lowered, and by drawing upon one part of the rope'and paying out the other the carrier will be shifted in its position on a the track, substantially as set forth.

5. In ahay elevator, the combination with a track, carrier and pair of hoisting blocks each of which has two sheaves therein, of a hoisting rope, the ends of which are secured to opposite sides at the ends of the carrier and passed thence downwardly to form two loops lying parallel with each other whereby to have the sheaves of the hoisting blocks strung upon them and thence in opposite directions over sheaves in the ends of the carrier thus utilizing the entire binding power of both ends of the rope upon the hoisting blocks and preventing the tipping and upsetting of the load by one of the blocks being drawn up ahead of the other, substantially as set forth.

6. In a hay elevator, the combination of a hoisting rope, a carrier having sheaves therein in different planes or out of alignment so that each end of the hoisting rope may be passed over its respective sheave and fastened at the ends to the carrier to form two loops without interfering or coming in contact with each other, two hoisting blocks, each of which has two sheaves therein, said sheaves journaled in the carrier one of the loops being in line with the sheaves in one side of the pulley blocks, and the other loop in line with the sheaves in opposite sides of the blocks, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM LOUDEN.

Witnesses:

T. S. WATERS, R. B. LOUDEN. 

